Cross border languages between China and neighboring countries

China shares numerous ethnic groups and languages with neighboring countries, with over 50 transnational languages, accounting for 40% of the total number of Chinese languages. Northern Altaic languages are dominant in foreign countries, such as Mongolian, Korean, Kazakh, etc., while southern languages such as Mandarin Chinese and Tibeto Burman languages are widely used in Southeast Asia. Although these languages share a common history and structure, there are significant differences between countries, influenced by their language policies and ecological environments.

Differences in Cross border Language Status Planning

Explored the status and functional differences of transnational languages in China and its neighboring countries. The Altaic and Indo European languages of Northeast and Central Asia in China are official languages in neighboring countries, while they are minority languages in China. The Dong Tai, Miao Yao, Yi Burmese languages in Southeast Asia were mostly brought by Chinese immigrants, with the majority being in China. According to data from "World Ethnic Languages," UNESCO and the International Organization for Standardization have identified approximately 7000 languages worldwide, of which 323 are in China. However, the number of languages recognized by Chinese academia is around 130. The book 'World Ethnic Languages' considers dialect variants as independent languages, while the Chinese academic community places greater emphasis on ethnic identity and historical connections. The ethnic languages and dialects of southern China are divided into multiple languages abroad, such as Hongmiao language, Hongzhuang language, Honghua language, etc. The status of transnational languages is significantly influenced by language policies of different countries. The World Ethnic Languages uses EGIDS to assess language vitality and endangered status. Mandarin Chinese is a national language with the highest status and is also one of the working languages of the United Nations. The official common languages in some regions of China include Mongolian, Tibetan, Uyghur, Zhuang, and others. English in Hong Kong and Portuguese in Macau are also official languages of the Special Administrative Region.

Differences in the planning of three transnational language ontologies

Explored the differences in ontology planning of transnational languages among different countries, including standard languages and dialects, writing systems, and other aspects. The differences between standard language and dialect affect language identity and user group identification, as well as the choice of standard language in formal settings. For example, there are significant differences between China and Southeast Asian countries in the standard languages and dialects of Chinese, Mongolian, Tibetan, Zhuang, and other languages. In terms of writing systems, there are also differences between China and neighboring countries in the writing systems of transnational languages, such as Mongolian, Uyghur, Korean, etc. Some of China's non written minority languages have created or reformed new scripts with government assistance that are different from those of foreign countries, while some language groups use other commonly used ethnic scripts. These differences have a significant impact on the identity recognition and functional use of transnational languages.

4 Additional Discussions

Explored the differences in the ontological structure of Chinese transnational languages, pointing out that minority languages from different countries tend to converge towards the common language of the host country, leading to deviations from the mother tongue. Taking the Ewenki, Kemu, and Achang ethnic groups as examples, this study analyzes their language changes in China and neighboring countries. For example, Ewenki language is influenced by Chinese and Russian, Kemu language borrows vocabulary from Chinese and Laotian, and Achang language incorporates a large number of Chinese and Burmese vocabulary in China and Myanmar, respectively. These changes have led to a decrease in communication between different countries for the same transnational language, and may even differentiate into different languages. At the same time, it is pointed out that previous studies have focused more on the commonalities of transnational languages and overlooked the differences between countries. Due to differences in social systems, language policies, and language ecosystems among different countries, transnational languages exhibit significant differences in identity, status, normative standards, and writing systems, further exacerbating this trend of differentiation.